Sandra Bullock’s teary tales of adopting her children will give you goosebumps

By Meaghan Wray

June 04, 2018

When it comes to her top three priorities,
Ocean’s 8 star Sandra Bullock doesn’t hesitate: family, family and, lastly,
family. And she knows a thing or two about what it means to wait for the
perfect little members to come along. The actress tearfully shared the
emotional journey to finding her two kids,
Louis,
8, and
Laila, 6, in an interview
withfellow adoptive mom Hoda Kotb on
Monday (June 4). While Hurricane Katrina brought her to Louis, it was her
little boy that then led Sandra to her daughter - and the stories will give you
goosebumps!

Despite her flourishing film career, the 53-year-old revealed
on
Today what motherhood means to her
and why it’s elevated over all else. “Everything is about them being okay,
being in school, having what they need, their moments. I need to be there for
every single moment they have,” she said. “It’s harder for me to leave them
than I think it is for them when I leave. I don’t leave that much and I don’t
work that much anymore either.”

It was never an easy process, though. As the actress entered
her 40s and split from her ex-husband
Jessie
James
, she said she wasn’t sure that kids would ever be part of her life
plan. That was, until a major environmental disaster changed everything.
“Katrina happened in New Orleans. And I knew. Like, just something told me that
my child was there. It was weird,” she explained as she fought back tears. She
waited several years before finally adopting her little Louis, who she knew
right away was her son. “It’s like he had always been there. It’s like, he fit
in the crook of my arm,” she gushed, tearing up. “He looked me in the eyes and
he was just, he was wise. My child was wise.”

His wisdom was also a key in Sandra’s decision to adopt a
second child, also from New Orleans. After a friend of Sandra’s mentioned her
daughters one day, her toddler had a unique reaction, "He goes, 'Yeah, I
don't have daughters,'” the Virginia native said. "He goes, 'No, I don't
have a daughter, but I'm gonna have a baby soon.' ... And I realized at that
time maybe he knew something. And when I think about it, it would've been
around the time that Laila was born." The twosome welcomed their third
member in 2015, and their mom knew it was meant to be. “Louis has a very
strong way, and he’s a fine leader, and he lead me to Lai.”

And though she happily spends most of her time on mommy
duty, Sandra is still drawn to special roles – like that of her latest film,
the all-female
Ocean’s 8. “I wanted
to be a part of something that seemed like it’d be a lot of fun to do but would
also give the viewer a lot of pleasure to sit back, enjoy the ride,” she said
of the film. And it’s bound to please, as It has easily the most star-studded, girl-power
cast of all time –
Rihanna, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham
Carter
, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Dakota Fanning and American rapper Nora Lum, whose stage name is Awkwafina.

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